Boks change two

The Springbok team to face Scotland on Saturday has two changes from the one that beat Ireland last weekend, with Gurthrö Steenkamp and Juan de Jongh being included in the starting line-up at Murrayfield.

Steenkamp replaces CJ van der Linde at loosehead prop after the latter took over as late replacement from Tendai Mtawarira last weekend. De Jongh replaces Jaco Taute at outside centre. Both Van der Linde and Taute have been included on the bench.

In total, the Springbok team has 416 Test caps in the starting 15 – 150 of them amongst the forwards and 266 in the backline.

“It’s great to have Gurthrö back – we wanted to select him last week, but unfortunately he was not 100% fit,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.

“Gurthrö is experienced, knows the conditions well and is looking forward to returning to the Green and Gold as he’s not played for South Africa for more than a year.

“Juan is in a similar position. Even though he’s played in a number of Tests for us this year, he’s not started for the Boks since last year’s away leg of the Castle Tri-Nations against New Zealand in Wellington.

“My plan has always been to give him a start on this tour, as he’s been playing very well lately, and I’m excited to see what he brings to the team on Saturday.”

Heinke van der Merwe, a late replacement on the bench for Van der Linde last weekend, has kept his place among the reserves.

Saturday’s Test will be the 22nd between South Africa and Scotland since they first met in 1906. Of these, the Boks have won 16 and lost five, which includes the last time they played, in 2010. On that occasion, the Scots won, 21-17.

“Our focus has been on improving from our performance against Ireland last week,” said Meyer. “We saw the match between Scotland and New Zealand and that the Scots scored three tries against the All Blacks – which is more than any other team has managed against them this year.

“It was their first Test back since their season started and they will not be an easy opponent on Saturday, but we’ve also brushed off some cobwebs in Dublin and have had a good week on the training field.

“We lost on our last visit to Edinburgh and realise Saturday will be a massive battle, but it’s one we are looking forward to.”

The Springbok team to face Scotland in Edinburgh is:

Position

Name

Province

Test Caps

15

Zane Kirchner

Vodacom Blue Bulls

22

14

JP Pietersen

The Sharks

46

13

Juan de Jongh

DHL Western Province

12

12

Jean de Villiers (captain)

DHL Western Province

82

11

Francois Hougaard

Vodacom Blue Bulls

25

10

Pat Lambie

The Sharks

18

9

Ruan Pienaar

Ulster, Northern Ireland

61

8

Duane Vermeulen

DHL Western Province

5

7

Willem Alberts

The Sharks

18

6

Francois Louw

Bath, England

15

5

Juandré Kruger

Vodacom Blue Bulls

6

4

Eben Etzebeth

DHL Western Province

9

3

Jannie du Plessis

The Sharks

40

2

Adriaan Strauss (vice-captain)

Toyota FS Cheetahs

19

1

Gurthrö Steenkamp

Toulouse, France

38

Replacements

16

Schalk Brits

Saracens, England

3

17

Heinke van der Merwe

Leinster, Ireland

2

18

CJ van der Linde

MTN Golden Lions

74

19

Flip van der Merwe

Vodacom Blue Bulls

21

20

Marcell Coetzee

The Sharks

10

21

Morné Steyn

Vodacom Blue Bulls

41

22

Jaco Taute

MTN Golden Lions

3

23

Lwazi Mvovo

The Sharks

7

Stats and facts:

Jean de Villiers will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok centre, with his 68th Test in that position for South Africa.

Gurthrö Steenkamp, who is back in the team, holds the record for the most Test tries by a Springbok prop, with six.

Replacement flyhalf Morné Steyn is not only the most capped Springbok No 10 ever, with 40 Tests at pivot, but also holds the record for the most career tries in Tests as a flyhalf, with seven.

Morné needs 14 points to reach 500 career points in Tests for the Springboks.

CJ van der Linde, who started last week as a late replacement for Tendai Mtawarira, will earn his 75th Springbok cap if he gets game time, which would make him the 10th Springbok to play in 75 Tests. CJ is also the most capped Springbok against Scotland in the squad, with five Tests against them.

Should CJ be used as a substitute, he will join Ruan Pienaar on 35 Tests as a substitute, the second most by a Springbok.

In the starting line-up, only Ruan Pienaar (three penalty goals) and Willem Alberts (one try) have scored points against Scotland in previous Tests. Morné Steyn kicked four penalty goals in the last Test against Scotland in 2010.

Only Jean de Villiers, Francois Hougaard and Jannie du Plessis will have started in all Springbok Test matches in 2012.

George Clancy of Ireland is the referee. In the six Tests he’s refereed in involving South Africa, the Springboks have won four and lost two.

HM is playing his winning percentages. Very poor indeed and he is turning out to be a major disapointment as a coach. Maybe he needs better support and flick the jabroers.

I am pleased we get to see what JDJ can do at centre as I dont think he has enough in his skill set to create major attcking play. He has a side step and a side step dummy that so predicatble he gets smashed. Like other centres in South Africa he does not pass at crucial times and goes to ground. I do like his heart and he attacks the ball on the ground.

For JDV one can only :bangheadt:

We have playmakers but settle on dependable. Dependable is not what gets New Zealand where they are.

Reply to Craven @ 1:08 pm: I would not read anything in that game. That was one of the worst games ever reffed.

“I am pleased we get to see what JDJ can do at centre as I dont think he has enough in his skill set to create major attcking play.”

Not sure I agree with this, JdJ has this reputation of a player that cannot pass and cannot create opportunities for players outside him. Where this comes from I do not know (probably the same place where his size concerns have originated from).

Think back to 2010 when the Stromers reached the Super 14 final. JdJ played inside centre that year as Jean was warming the bench in Ireland. The centre combination of JdJ and Jacque Fourie performed extremely well for the Stormers that year. And I cannot recall Fourie, Habana, Aplon and Pieterson never seeing the ball the year?! Stormers scored 36 tries in that campaign.

Plan looks to me as follows:
lambie as playmaker, looks for crash ball runners from 1st phase = JdV and then 2nd phase Lambie will look for another crash ball runner JdJ then comes phase 3 where the 9 or 10 will look for forwards crash ball runners…

Scotland will not be troubled in coming up with a defensive strategy in how to stop this Bok “surge”. For the Scots I would advise, make your 1st time tackles, make them low (no fear of off-load) and keep on doing it until the Bokke knock on, give away a penalty or get turned over.

No surprises here and rightly so… this team needs more time together again for some consistency before the all important England game… and a loss here would not be tolerated like the last time these sides met…